Y Combinator-backed virtual assistant startup Clara Labs might be getting an infusion of cash, rumored to be in the $3-4 million range from Sequoia Capital. Co-founder of Clara Labs, Maran Nelson, doesn’t want to talk about that just yet and neither does Sequoia.
However, a tweet sent from the Information’s Eric Newcomer on September 18 urged the Twittersphere to keep an eye on Nelson and suggested Clara Labs had already raised a round with the VC firm.
While Nelson has confirmed a funding round is in the works, she says that it is not $3 million or $4 million. Our source says that the raise is around that range. Separately, a source inside Sequoia has said they couldn’t confirm if there was a deal, but if there was that there would be no talk of it on Sequoia’s end for awhile.
Clara automates meeting coordination over email and manages your calendar for you. Maran indicated there were big plans for the company beyond just that. For now it’s a contextually based AI software layer that promises to save you time in your scheduling and emails free of human error. Prices range from $200 – $600 per month, with the first month free.
Other virtual personal assistants in the space such as Jarvis and X.ai work via smartphone to schedule meetings and keep your calendar up-to-date. This is not to be confused with a separate Jarvis that also acts as a siri-like personal assistant butfor the connected home.
Clara Labs participated in the summer 2014 Y Combinator batch. We’ll keep you posted if we hear more.